AT THE END OF FIFTY DAYS OF COUNTING
Pentecost is coming.
In the meantime; we all have been very serious about our studies, meditations and preparations for this HUGE day on the Christian calendar.
The last 50 days have been very busy with spiritual preparations.
We’ve prayed, and we have fasted. With joy and anticipation; we have prepared all that we can.
ALL OUR JELLY BEANS ARE GONE
Our Grand kids would even say “We ate ALL of our jelly beans!” This would mean that they had one jelly bean a day for fifty days from Passover to Pentecost until they reached the count of 50.
Reaching the 50th jelly bean would mean it is now time to have our picnic for The Day of Pentecost. Jelly beans are great for helping children learn how to count the days of the omer as they begin to anticipate the blessings of Pentecost.
Now that this important day is closer; let’s get ready to lighten up a bit and turn all things serious and studious into all things that celebrate this glorious day. In other words; let’s bring on the joy!
CELEBRATING GOD’S GIFTS
Pentecost is a gift from God which much of today’s world seems to have forgotten how to celebrate.
The people of old had the right idea though.
They KNEW that Pentecost was a very special time; and they definitely celebrated the day in style.
So; let’s go back in time to an old fashioned Pentecost.
How would we go about that type of joyful celebration today?
May I suggest finding a park and having a picnic?
PICNIC IN THE PARK
The people of old made their homes merry with flowers and branches of green. They decorated in a festive way; and they even danced.
An appropriate feast was prepared in honor of the day.
Old England used to roast a goose and stuff it with apples, onions and sage. The French made tasty meat pies and carried them off into the woods to celebrate the day with their pretty feasts spread out on open tables in the fresh country air and sunlight.
Let’s take a picnic outside too!
A KITCHEN WITH NO WALLS
A nice local park will do just fine; or if you have your own land why not put a picnic table in a very scenic and special spot and treat it as if it were your kitchen with no walls?
That would surely give everyone the feeling of freedom which Pentecost always brings to us.
Spread a red table cloth to represent the tongues of fire that rested upon the heads of God’s people on that first Day of Pentecost.
Place some white napkins inside a ring wrapped in orange and yellow ribbons with flames of fire cut out of construction paper to go on top of the napkin rings that hold each white napkin.
With all of this and the amazing and symbolic recipes we are about to share; our tables should be quite festive!
FOOD THAT SPEAKS TO EVERY ONE
In ancient times, when the people forgot God and they built the Tower of Babylon; they were so prideful and full of themselves that God had to separate them from each other by confusing their languages.
Later though, about 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead, on the day of Pentecost, God’s Holy Spirit fell from Heaven and landed upon God’s people.
That was when just the opposite of Babylon took place.
Everyone could finally understand each other!
No language is ever too confusing when love is at the center of the speaking.
Evil divides us; but God’s love unites us.
Food is a lot like that.
FOOD FOR THE SPIRIT
Some special dishes can talk without even saying a word. The very food on the table has stories to tell.
We are going to go all the way back to ancient Israel and take our food as they did; with dairy items first, then waiting for at least 30 minutes before eating the meat we will serve. On this day we will not mix them together. So it will be like taking two separate meals; only we will eat food that is neither meat or dairy in the middle and take drinks of water to wash out the residue of the dairy before eating the meat.
Why did the ancients do this? It was commanded to Moses in the statutes given with the ten commandments. That is about all they can tell you though. However; as a Christian on this side of the cross; I have my suspicions as to why they were instructed to observe this way; whether they knew the logic or not.
Part of the reason has to do with the scriptures that say the younger drink milk and when they grow they learn to eat meat. Spirituality is a process; first we learn the basics and then we grow into the harder things of keeping Torah. We do NOT have to keep these things of God; we simply WANT to keep these things of God. Now we do them out of love, not obligation.
These things build upon one another.
This holy day is all about celebrating how God gave Torah to us; and how it became a covenant between God and His Bride Israel. Every year Israel renews their vow to God to be true to Torah and every year God blesses them with more knowledge of Torah.
We should be doing the same as we come to this Day of Pentecost.
SYMBOLIC FOODS THAT SPEAK TO US
The two breads at each end of our table (loaves of challah) represent the two firstfruits harvests that come at the end of each season of crops that God blesses.
We have early first fruits; which we gave as a grain offering to God on Passover week; and we have latter firstfruits which we add to the table today, along with the processed grain offering for the loaf of barley. On Pentecost we come before God with thanksgiving as we waive these two loaves before God.
These loaves are like bookends around time; representing the offerings of the lives of the people at the end of the two harvest seasons; the barley harvest; then the wheat harvest. We are the common bread, the ordinary harvest. It is true that we often have flaws, but God accepts us the way we are because of the second loaf.
There is space and distance between the two loaves on the table, just as there was time between the two original harvest offerings.
This is the time and space between Passover and Pentecost when we have been learning and growing from our studies of the Torah which God has given. It is an “in-between” time.
The first loaf of barley is basic, but good. There is the time in-between each loaf. Then the second loaf of wheat is the more refined and more delicious of all the crops. God saves the best for last. This loaf from the wheat harvest represents Messiah. With Messiah we become complete.
There is dual meaning here; for those who are Christians. The first loaf represents the time of our imperfect sacrifices; before Jesus came to save us, and the second loaf represents the time after his coming to earth and/or after our salvation experience, which refined us and made us better people able for living closer to God and allowing us to be filled with God’s Holy Spirit.
So; because of the two loaves and the time in between what they represent; we serve two meals, the first with dairy products that represent new Christians who only drink milk so far. They are like babies in Christ and and they are just beginning the basics of a new Christian lifestyle.
The time after that meal is like a waiting period of time for all of the basics to digest into our minds and our spirits. In that time we are allowed to eat a few additional new foods, but we are not ready to consume meat yet. It is like a baby learning how to eat; first baby food then the real food, a little at a time until they are capable of chewing up a steak.
The days of the counting of the omer with our meditations relating to the study of Torah and the careful consideration we gave to all of God’s attributes and how they work together in our lives just builds upon these good, solid, basic concepts which tend to make us more holy and help us to draw closer to God.
So we consume one simple meal after another, until that time when we are finally ready to take and digest the full meal which contains the meat.
Then we eat the meat represented by the second loaf that is sweeter and more delightful to our taste. It is what we have been waiting for and our appetite and our spirits are fully satisfied.
That second and last loaf (the latter firstfruits offering) is symbolic of what Christ has done for us and the way he has enabled us to receive God’s Holy Spirit into ourselves.
This is our Pentecost!
The consumption of all of the symbolic meals brought about the journey through life to the time of Pentecost in full!
When these meals are over we have all that we need. We are filled up and satisfied. This is symbolic of how God fills us with The Holy Spirit; which makes us complete, equipped, energized and ready to live a holy, kingdom lifestyle.
We rejoice in the fact that we are now nourished by the perfect Spirit of God, sent down from heaven because of our Messiah giving his life for us. The Holy Spirit is our food from heaven; our Manna.
A TABLE THAT SPEAKS
Yes; Food can preach sermons if we let it.
For instance; what comes to your mind when I say Twelve Fruit Salad?
If you were thinking of the twelve apostles and their fruitful lives; you are right and you might be beginning to understand how our Pentecost Picnic Menu is going to teach us to remember the most significant parts of this day.
There is also another explanation for the twelve fruits which we will eat after taking dairy and before taking meat:
The Book of Galatians (Chapter 5) from our bibles lists the twelve fruits of The Holy Spirit. This scripture passage has a LOT of meaning for us today. It tells us how we can begin to live when we put God’s ways over our own ways. This also puts even more emphasis on the words and the gifts from God that came from the giving of Torah which happened on The Day of Pentecost so very long ago.
To make it simple; if we follow Torah and if we receive God’s Holy Spirit into the days and ways of our lives; we become “fruitful” just like this fruit on the table!
LIVING FRUIT AT GOD’S TABLE
As disciples of Christ, we too are to be spreading the twelve fruits of The Holy Spirit throughout the land. It isn’t something that we necessarily say; but more of something that we get to DO.
By living in God’s Holy Spirit we are preparing this world for The Kingdom of God which is to come.
As God’s Spirit fills our hearts; we begin to display all of The Fruit of The Holy Spirit in our daily lives.
Here is the recipe we will use:
TWELVE FRUIT SALAD
Ingredients:
Grapes, strawberries, melon, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, nectarines, mangoes, pineapples, apples, bananas and kiwi. (You can use any fruit combinations you wish here as long as there are twelve different fruits. The 12 fruits stand for the 12 fruits of God’s Spirit.)
Directions:
Simply chop and peel as appropriate and mix together inside a large glass bowl that shows off all the various colors and shapes. Fill 1/4 cup of water with 1 tablespoon of sugar and add the juice of a lemon. Melt the sugar mixture over heat on the stove and let it cool a bit; then pour it over the fruit to keep it fresh and sweet. Be sure to refrigerate until serving time. This turns out so lovely and colorful.
By the way: Those twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit are: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control and chastity. (Galatians 5:22-23)
What better way to start out our picnic than this scrumptious salad?
I will set the colorful bowl down right in the center of our table; next to the lovely red and white flowers I’ve arranged. The red is for the fire of the tongues that landed on the heads of God’s people on that first day of Pentecost; the white represents the color of the dove which represents the love of God. (Are you aware that a dove always returns for his mate? Did you know that doves mate for a lifetime? They only have eyes for one another.)
This colorful salad is good for serving with all of our meals. It is neither meat or dairy and it is good for snacking with every part of our feast; all through out the day.
The Pentecost Teaching Tree
Our tree centerpiece; which we use in some way at our home for every month or season, is today filled with beautiful white doves that have slits cut out for where their wings belong.
The wings of the doves are carefully folded in accordion-style like fans with pleats and then slipped through the slits on the sides of the form of the doves; making their wingspan fan out on each side and become 3-dimensional.
If you take the folded wings out of their slots, or just look at them attached to the dove’s body, you will see that each dove has a list of all the different “fruits of the spirit” written inside it’s wings.
Each person will take one of these doves home with them when the day is over. The dove will serve as a reminder for that person to be asking God to cultivate all of these spiritual gifts into their personal lives throughout the coming year.
Next year the person will bring his dove back to the tree again; because doves always return home to their mates; and at the end of next year’s celebration each one will draw yet another dove from the tree with fruit in its wings; and each year (with God’s help) the gifts of the Holy Spirit will be remembered and prayed for and slowly and progressively God will be building them into our spirits and growing us up as we go along through the spiritual aspects of our days.
Next we will place a 7-layered dip on our table. It is complete with chips for dipping.
SEVEN LAYER DIP
Ingredients:
Beans, Salsa, Sour Cream, Guacamole, Cheese, Green Onions and Olives.
Directions:
Layer all ingredients in an appropriate dish, exactly in the order that they are listed, starting with the beans and working your way up to the olives as the last layer on top. Keep this mixture cold until serving time. Serve with Tortilla chips.
Just as we are blessed with twelve fruits from The Holy Spirit; we are also given Seven Gifts of The Holy Spirit from God. So; we eat dip that has seven layers; and just like the gifts, each layer builds on top of the other and when they all come together; we have something quite good and delicious to share.
This dish is served in our first meal because it contains dairy and cheese. The chips are good to continue using for our snacks in between the two main meals. They clear the palate and get everyone ready for the meat flavors to come.
Can you name the seven gifts that each layer of this dip represents?
They are: 1) wisdom 2) understanding 3) counsel 4) fortitude 5) knowledge 6) piety and 7) Fear of The LORD. (1 Corinthians 12:8-10)
After waiting thirty minutes past the eating of the dairy products; we will serve our meat dish, which is the final and the main course of the meal.
Our main dish will consist of Wings complete with a Special Sauce for dipping.
HONEY GARLIC WINGS
Ingredients:
3 pounds chicken wings (20 – 30 wings)
2/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup water
4 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup rice vinegar
4 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
6 cloves garlic (minced)
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Directions:
Wash and pat dry the chicken wings. Cut and discard wingtips. The wings should be cut at the joint. Combine soy sauce, water, chopped green onions, vinegar, honey, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, and red pepper and chili paste if desired. Pour mixture over wings inside a plastic bag and store in refrigerator for two to six hours. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cover a large baking tray with foil and spray foil with cooking spray. Pour the marinade out into a sauce bowl and set aside. Arrange the wings in the prepared baking tray and bake. Turn after 30 minutes have passed. Bake the wings for about an hour total; or until they are nicely browned.
About 10 minutes before serving put the marinade sauce into a pot and bring it to a nice rolling boil, then reduce to a simmer and let simmer for about five minutes. Use this sauce as a dip for the wings when serving. Put the wings on a platter with the chopped green onions sprinkled for a garnish. Include a bowl of the sauce on the platter. Celery can be served with these wings – celery is neither meat nor dairy; so it is an acceptable practice for keeping a traditional Pentecost menu.
OLD FASHIONED MACARONI SALAD
Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 pound large elbow macaroni
2 stalks chopped celery, including leaves
1 large shallot, chopped
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 (4-ounce) jar chopped pimentos, drained
3 tablespoons sweet pickled relish
Kosher salt and pepper
Directions:
Boil some eggs, then peel and chop them. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat and add macaroni. Cook until al dente. Drain and rinse. Combine the chopped eggs, celery, shallots and lemon juice. Add the macaroni and stir.